What does it mean if you are transgender and you exist somewhere between girl and boy, equally as comfortable in both modes but never fully one or the other?

From a trans politics perspective it’s a bit tricky but history gives us a few clues about where trans politics is at right now. Identity politics through history, whether it be feminist, disability, sexuality or ethnicity has tended to follow a similar pathway. 70’s feminism brought with it the idea that hairy legs and underarms are okay and that women could be just as powerful as men. Not bad politics at the time but what ended up happening was a hierarchy of oppression. Each oppression got you higher up the ladder of authenicity. At an early 80’s feminist conference workshop an exercise was undertaken. You got a chocolate biscuit for each oppression you experienced. She with the largest pile of chocolate biscuits, for example the low income, disabled, lesbian, in an interracial partnership… won.

What would those conference participants have made of transgendered people? Would they have been welcomed to the oppressed, therefore good, end of the hierarchy or would they, like the middle class conference delegates, have been pushed way down the bad end? Who knows, trans politics wasn’t out there yet, but I suspect back in those days, with all the vagina in the mirror gazing, the lack of a biological vjj might have been a problem. If transgendered girls had been allowed to come to the conference at all (and in many cases they still are not) they would have been dowb the bad end of the continuim.

In the transsexual community, it seems to me, passing as a genetic girl is the privileged position. I understand this. Doing another gender and passing one way or another is time consuming, emotionally challenging and not an easy thing to achieve. But what about all those people who will never pass? Simple things like going to the gender segregated toilets can become a massive issue. No wonder passing as a woman is so important.

Personally I think that it’s time for a more trans-cool politics, more gender play, gender bending and talking to each other. The LBGTI rainbow needs to keep on growing and changing we need to keep questioning and moving on.

Gender play is more than how you look, my girlfriends can go totally fem without even lifting a mascara wand or a shaver sometimes. I think it’s time some of those old hierarchies and binaries were laid to rest.

What do you think? Is there more to doing girl than looking like a genetic girl? Is there more to being a girl than walking the walk, talking the talk and wearing make up?

Dr Michelle Mars is a sexologist living in Sydney. You can contact her on +61 4000 82 936 or info@drmichellemars.com consults (ladies high tea in the dungeon) $120